Attack Of The Kraken (C) 2010 Quantum Sheep, $ 1, iPhone 3GS/4

Negli abissi marini certamente ci sono creature ancora sconoscute o di cui si conosce ancora poco, figuriamoci nel passato. Nel settecento e ottocento i marinai, raccontavano di enormi mostri tenacolari che potevano affondare una intera nave: i Kraken, leggendari mostri degli abissi marini. Probabilmente erano avvistamente di calamari giganti e qualche particolare in più veniva certamente sempre aggiunto quando la notizia passava d bocca in boccca. E se così non fosse? Se i Kraken fossero alieni arrivati sulla terra, pronti ad impossessarsi del nostro mondo?

I Kraken sono giunti in città.

John Wyndham, scrisse nel 1953 un romanzo dove i Kraken, giunti dallo spazio, si insediarono nelle profondità marine, nei pressi delle Azzorre per poi emergere e cercare di spazzare via l'uomo dal proprio pianeta. E' proprio da questo romanzo che Attack of the Kraken è ispirato.

La difesa dell'umanità è affidata al pilota del Titan, un veivolo armato di un particolare raggio ad ultrasuoni, pronto ad affrontare le mostruose creature in sedici livelli, ambientati sulla Terra, per poi passare attraverso lo spazio giungere fino al pianeta dei minacciosi invasori.
Il Titan può muoversi all'interno di una vasta area, è possibile controllare la nostra posizione oltre a quella dei Kraken, grazie al radar posto nella parte superiore dello schermo. Immediatamente sotto è visibile il punteggio, la barra della barriera e le vite rimaste. Sparando un mostro ricevermo 100 punti per ogni colpo andato a segno a condizione di avere la barriera al livello massimo. I punti sono proporzionali al livello della barriera, se veniamo colpiti dai missili intelligenti dei Kraken, la barriera si indebolirà e anche i punti per ogni bersaglio colpito saranno inferiori a 100. Impostando il livello di difficoltà "Hard", i punti saranno doppi.

Il gioco si divide in tre fasi, la prima composta da cinque schemi, è ambientata dove tutto ha inizio, le Azzorre. I mostri appariranno dall'Oceano e invaderanno le isole, cercando di rapire pecore, portando terrore e distruzione.

Battaglia nello spazio: la nave madre.

Fase due: sei schemi. I kraken avanzano raggiungendo ed invadendo le città, ormai deserte, il loro principale obiettivo è annientare le basi militari, viste come un potenziale pericolo, ma il loro vero scopo è sciogliere il ghiaccio delle calotte polari, per innondare il pianeta.
Fase tre: cinque schemi, la controffensiva. Titan parte in direzione del pianeta alieno, con l'intenzione di distruggerlo completamente. Prima di giungere a destinazione dovrà affrontare la flotta nemica, affrontando dischi volanti, navi madri ed un nuovo tentativo di invasione dei Kracken, intercettando numerose meteore, lanciate in direzione della terra, dove all'interno si nascondo i mostri alieni.
Prima dell'inizio di ogni schema, è descritta la missione da portare a temine e a volte dovremo concludere con successo anche una missione speciale, oltre a trovare la narrazione della trama del gioco. Portando a temine tutte le missioni salveremo la Terra, ma ad una condizione: il punteggio finale dovrà essere maggiore di 300.000, così avremo accesso al diciasettesimo livello, il vero finale del gioco, dove liberemo il mondo da una nuova minaccia. Se il punteggio raggiunto al termine del sedicesimo livello non è sufficiente, allora il gioco terminerà in quel punto, ma in ogni caso i Kraken saranno estinti per sempre.

Difendete la base milatare!

Donwload Attack of the Kracken.

Attack Of The Kraken è uno tra i migliori shooter per iPhone, perchè utilizza elementi già noti ai vecchi frequentatori delle sale giochi negli anni 80, la grande giocabilità, la bellissima colonna sonora abbinato al racconto della trama di gioco, ad ogni inizio livello, fanno di questo titolo un nuovo classico. Geniale l'introduzione con una citazione del poeta Inglese Tennyson. Il gioco è pieno di altri tocchi di classe, provate ad entrare nel menu "Research" dove sono descritti tutti gli alieni, il menu "help" è davvero utile e dettagliato. Un capolavoro che ogni retro-player deve avere nella propria collezione.

 

 

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Presentation 96%
Mai vista una presenzazione così completa: tutti gli elementi del gioco sono descritti, due livelli di difficoltà, tre possibili personalizzazione dei comadi, dettagli sui punteggi ad ogni fine livello e narrazione romanzesca della trama di gioco.

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Graphics 93%
Grafica degna dei migliori Arcade anni 80, molto fluida e veloce. Fondali decisamente belli.

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Sound 98%.
Effetti sonori nella media, ma la colonna sonora è epica!

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Hookability 95%
Il gioco racchiude il meglio degli anni 80, da Defender a Time Pilot,

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Lastability 96%
Gioco coinvolgente ed immediato, con due possibili finali, terrà impegnati a lungo.

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Value for Money 99%
Costa così poco?  Davvero?

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Overall 95%
La grande giocabilità e la trama fanno di questo shooter un nuovo classico, le colonne sonore di Kevin McLeod completano questo titolo di qualità.

SBF Extra Turbo Z - Nailbones $ 1.99 - iPad - © 2011 Drew Daycross

Girovagando tra le migliaia di applicazioni presenti nell'AppStore, sono stato attratto dall'immagine dello schermo dei titoli di questo arcade, dalle grandi scritte colorate e dall'impostazione così retro. Ci siamo, ancora una volta il passato ritorna: Space Battle Fight è uno shooter per uno fino a quanttro giocatori, che si sfideranno contemporaneamente, ma nella modalità singola è un classico retro arcade, di quelli chi portano indietro nel tempo.
Il protagonista è Space Rocketson, un guerriero spaziale, mandato ad investigare nel settore Z, nello spazio, dal WSG, ovvero World Space Government.

Schermo del titoli in perfetto stile arcade anni '80

L'indagine è presto conclusa: il settore Z è sotto attacco da parte di esseri alieni. Il guerriero è dotato di laser ed una scora di bombe ed uno zaino-jet per muoversi in assenza di gravità. I livelli terminano quanto tutti gli alieni sono stati spazzati via, in alcuni, è presente un pianeta, dove Rocketson può arrivarvi in volo e camminare sulla superficie, ma sarà un bersaglio facile, a causa dei movimenti lenti, ma nulla è perduto, il nostro eroe ha una super-arma: può calciare il pianeta contro in nemici, sì, davvero è così, il pianeta volerà via come un palloncino, distruggendo tutto quello che incotra, per poi rallentare e posizionarsi in una nuova orbita. Come ogni eroe che si rispetti, Rocketson al quindicesimo livello, dovrà salvare la principessa, distruggendo la nave madre aliena.

Rocketson salverà la princepessa prigioniera all'interno della nave madre?

Cosa accadrà dopo? Il gioco finirà? Stiamo parlando di un retro arcade, non può terminare così, iniziera tutto da capo, come se nulla fosse accaduto, come nella migliore tradizione dei vecchi giochi anni 80.







 SBF Download

Adesso vi sparo contro l'intero pianeta!

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Presentation 96%
Schermata iniziale molto bella in stile arcade, storia e descizioni dettagliate, fino a quatto giocatori, e una buona colonna sonora.

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Graphics 79%
Grafica 8 bit ben realizzata e sfondi a grossi pixel.

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Sound 46%.
Effettti sonori tipicamente arcade, ma la musica durante il gioco è a dir poco fuori luogo, un pezzo di musica classica suonata al pianoforte....Per fortuna si può giocare solo con gli effetti.

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Hookability 78%
Gioco decisamente attraente. Bella l'idea di calciare un pianeta contro i nemici.

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Lastability 74%
Se non vi fate venire una crisi di nervi per l'impossibilità di controllare il personaggio a proprio piacimento (ci vuole allenamento, siamo nello spazio) il gioco è divertente ed impegnativo.

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Value for Money 99%
HALF OF ALL PROCEEDS GO TO JAPAN QUAKE RELIEF, quindi faciamo una buona azione.

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Overall 68%
Arcade dalla forte attrattiva, ma penalizzato da alcune scelte realizzative, ma può regalare ore di divertimento moderato.

Interstellar Force - David Molnar Production

Le notizie arrivano confuse al quartier generale della forza di difesa interstellare, si parla di una probabile invasione aliena, ma senza conferma, si teme per i diversi siti di importanza strategica ed economica, su pianeti colonizzati poco prima del lontano anno 2100. Forse sono solo paure di incontrare qualcosa o qualcuno di cui si ignorava l'esistenza, ma quello che è certo che adesso qualcosa o qualcuno c'è davvero.
Necessario l'invio immediato di una nave spaziale da combattimento, speriamo di arrivare in tempo, speriamo si tratti di un falso allarme....

La conferma è arrivata: l'invasione probabilmente ha avuto inizio, il rapporto diffuso parla di un grande esercito composto da navi spaziali da guerra, veloci navicelle, androidi e chissà cosa altro ancora, il numero di alieni è imprecisato, si presume possa essere partito da un remoto angolo dello spazio, ancora pieno di misteri e pericoli, nella regione Tango-Echo, ora non c'è più posto per i dubbi, Omicron Ceti 3 pianeta inospitale per la vita umana è la base generale degli alieni, è segnalata la presenza della flotta nemica, inoltre la zona di asteroidi (159) in prossimità di Omicron Ceti 3 è disseminata di mine. E' un chiaro segnale di ostilità.

In breve tempo i rapporti che si susseguono sono drammatici: alieni segnalati su Aldeberan 2, presenza di mine vicino alla nebulosa Alpha 742, Il pianeta Rosso è stato invaso, primo sito di grande importanza strategica a cadere. Computron City è stata presa, il quartier generale della Computron Hondings Interstellar LDT, il danno economico è incalcolabile.

Asteroid Field 159

"Finalmente, Computron City è vicina, mi preparo allo scontro"... Furono le ultime parole del pilota a giungere alla base.

Nei panni del pilota dell'Interstellar Force, affronteremo a colpi di laser gli invasori per sette livelli pieni di navi spaziali, asteroidi, carri armanti, androidi e mine, in un classico shooter a scorrimento orizzontale, dove sarà possibile incrementare la potenza di fuoco, raccogliendo i power-ups fluttuanti che compariranno sullo schermo da destra a sinistra.

Alpha 742 Nebula

Inizialmente, in dotazione avremo tre bombe, che utilizzate spazzeranno via i nemici dallo schermo in una sola volta. La navicella è protetta da quattro schermi energetici, equivale a dire che resisterà a quattro colpi nemici, il quinto sarà fatale. Bombe e schermi protettivi possono essere recuperati quanto il corrispondente power-up apparirà nell'area di gioco. Al termine di ogni livello completato riceveremo un bonus di punti, più avanzeremo nel gioco più il bonus sarà maggiore.

Il settimo ed ultimo livello (Lost in 8-Bit Space) sarà una vera sorpresa per gli amanti dell'era a 8-Bit, ma se ve la racconto che gusto c'è?

Download Interstellar Force

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Presentation 94%
Schermata iniziale con un completo menù per le opzioni, indicazione del miglior punteggio, supporto OpenFeint e Game Center, istruzioni e descrizioni dei livelli selezionabili. Davvero completo.

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Graphics 89%
Grafica retro, specialmente nel livello sette, veloce e molto fluida, buona varietà di nemici.

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Sound 96%.
C'è una musica per ogni situazione! Fantastica la colonna sonora del livello sette, effetti sonori davvero degni dei classici arcade anni '80.

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Hookability 90%
A chi non piace sparare agli alieni?

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Lastability 86%
Sette livelli non sono molti, ma per per un po' di tempo terranno impegnati. La buona notizia è che il gioco è in continua evoluzione, altri livelli saranno aggiunti e anche una modalità di gioco a 8-Bit.

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Value for Money 99%
Ogni nostalgico amante degli sparatutto dovrebbe possedere questo gioco.

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Overall 92%
Ottimo shooter che ci porta indietro nel tempo.

Milestones The "pioneers" era (1975-79)

Milestones

"Games that should never be forgotten..."

The "pioneers" era (1975-79)

A brief introduction...
From this issue onward, we'll make an unofficial journey through the games that left a footprint in the history of Arcade. We'll describe them as emulated by Raine when possible, though you should know that it doesn't emulate most of the "golden oldies". So we'll mainly use "that other" emulator (don't force me to write its name)... I can only say that it begins with an M and end with an E...
You won't find complete game reviews here; you'll just find a few notes and info (software house, release year...) and reasons why we consider them as being milestones. I hope this work will help people to discover funny oldies and to spread the culture of the "under 1MByte ROMs" videogames.

Each game review shows the following infos:
- Release year
- Software house
- Genre
- Why we consider it being a milestone

Enjoy,

Redhot

- From 1975 to 1979 (the "pioneers" era) -

This five-year timeperiod represents a sort of embryo to the Arcade experience. Videogames were nothine but bare extensions to the Pong gameplay but, in few cases, new concepts were introduced. So let's start reading the first issue of "Milestones"! And oh, please notice that we will mention emulated games only!

Gun Fight 1975 - Midway - Shooting This was an attempt to evolve the Pong concept, by introducing horizontal moves and selecting the shooting direction. The plot is simple: two cowboys challenge themselves in a duel. The first one to hit the opponent is (quite obviously I say) wins. There's no particular reason to consider this game a milestone... But this is the most ancient emulated game (it was released in 1975), and it brings us an idea of what people used to play in the mid Seventies. This was a 2-players time-game. This game-mode was widely used in early coin-ops.
Amazing Maze 1976 - Midway - Maze This is a pure maze game. You must find the exit before the opponent (computer or human) does. Easy? Not at all: computer never fails (according to the reputation of computer from the Seventies). You can play three mazes or as long as you win. Maze games are a wide genre in arcades history. It lives today in other forms (Camel Try for example) and this is the first expression of an ancient classic.
Blockade 1976 - Gremlin - Maze This is a milestone due to many reasons. You can still play it nowadays in Nokia's mobile phones, Disney used the same game concept in the Tron movie, Microsoft used it to show the incredible power of their GWBasic, and so on... As for Gun Fight, this is a 2-player only game, and game ended after round six (6 rounds? ...so you could end 3-3). Graphics was a mixture of text and drawn images, and the game was really slow. I guess you could play it drinking beer and smoking pipe at the same time...
Night Driver 1976 - Atari - Racing Young videogames company Atari (founded in 1972) released this driving game in 1976. Arcades were studded of driving games, but this was a real innovating one, also having a wonderful cabinet. There weer 4-gear lever, pedal and wheel. You drove in the darkness (it reminds me of some Italian roads...), and the only things you can see are... milestones standing at the edge of the road. Nobodyelse is as brave as you to drive in such darkness, so you can accelerate to maximum speed and run on your supercar. There is a time limit and you have to use all your skill in order to drive avoiding milestones. This videogame introduces the "first person sight" concept, and it's quite funny too! About graphics: the title is due to the primitive hardware: I guess that this game would have been "Day city Driver" or "Early Morning Driver" if only the graphics hardware was better...
Sea Wolf 1976 - Midway - Shooting Midway released another shooting videogame (oh warmongers...). I consider this game a prelude to the Space-Invaders era. Ok the location is different, but the concept is the same. You are, presumedly, a submarine captain and must shoot torpedoes to ships sailing the surface, within a limited time. Ships have various shapes and speeds. An odd thing is: randomly when you hit a mine, the word "Zap" is written... This is enough to consider it a milestone...
Sprint 1976 - Atari/Kee Games - Racing Another racing game from Atari - they probably bet much on this genre. Cabinets had the same features as the one for Night Driver. You race on a circuit, against other players (computer or human) and time. Before beginning the race you can select the track (Suzuka, Montecarlo, Monza... Ehr...). This concept will be reprised from Atari in other racing games (Super Sprint, Sprint Championship, Badlands). Other versions of this game are in existance, allowing 2, 4 or 8 players to play simultanously. The 8-player version cabinet was really impressive due to the controllers layout.
Canyon Bomber 1977 - Atari - Shooting You fly on a Zeppelin (then you'll also get an airplane) and your mission is to drop bombs in order to destroy the highest possible number of targets on the bottom of a canyon. There's an opponent (computer or human) who's the same mission as you. You can make three mistakes only. The concept of this videogame gave birth to another genre to become a classic: it starded a vein that had many variations and portings on almost all Home and Personal Computers. A new limit is introduced (three mistakes) to make game more interesting than timed games.
Car Polo 1977 - Exidy - Misc. I'm unsure, though I think this the first full-colour game (the first emulated one, at least...). Well, colour palette is really poor - though better than many old CGA applications... It's a computer version of a not so common sport in Europe: Car polo. That's a mixture of powerful cars and old traditions. Your mission is to operate a car in order to "kick" the ball into the opponent's door. Game concept is really simple: you play in co-op with a computer player against human or computer players in a limited time game. Player with highest goals score wins. Game is quite hard to play because of the uncommon kind of controllers, also your car moves slowly and making goals is almost impossible... But it's worth a try.
Circus 1977 - Exidy - Misc. This is probably the first circus-oriented game. It features a quite popular game concept which will then invade the following decade. You role an acrobat who attempts to pop three rows of baloons moving around the top part of the screen. You have to make him jump from a platform and bounce on a moveable springboard standing in the bottom part of the screen. Something like a deja-vu? Circus is the real ancestor of "Plump Pop" (take a look at Zzap!Raine issue #6)... So the concept wasn't that bad, was it?
Desert Gun 1977 - Midway - Shooting Another concept, innovative in 1977 and really abused nowadays: an "aim-and-shoot" game. This first-person game could be considered the first game of this genre (I'm unsure but the original cabinet probably had a light gun instead of joystick - KLOV doesn't mention that... but emulation is very similar to the one of games having light guns). You must shoot the highest possible number of... of... well what are those creatures? There are also bottles on the bottom part of the screen but I'm unsure about the real reason of those being there. I marked this game as the first of this genre, nothing else...
Destroyer 1977 - Atari - Shooting This is the exact opposite of "Sea Wolf" (read above): here you are the captain of a cruiser and your mission is to destroy the highest posible number of submarines, within a limited time period. Graphics are nice and the game concept will be used in many other following games.
Double Play/Extra Innings 1977 - Midway - Sport Maybe the first Baseball-related game. It had to be hard to convert such a complex sport into a videogame, but they did it: this early version is quite faithful to the actual sport. Graphics and AI were, naturally, poor and made this arcade a bit similar to those early Eighties handheld LED games... (Mattel and Conic produced them)
Laguna Racer 1977 - Midway - Racing If you are tired of all the racing games and you find them too easy... well, try this one! No, I'm not the author of this game er... But I find it a real challenge. Figure it: even though you run on a straight, it's darn hard to avoid other cars when you shift to the highest gear. Simple graphics (black & white monitor with a coloured artwork glued to the screen glass) and game concept too.
Poolshark 1977 - Atari - Misc. Another big vein in Arcade: the pool game. Nowadays we find plenty of sex-oriented pool videogames, but in this first version you just have to make the highest score in a limited time (a little bit boring, isn't it). Forget about inertia effects, strenght and angle: you simply move the white ball by joystick. Be aware not to throw white ball or ball #8 in a hole, or you'll have to start again. Nothing else. There is, sometime, an odd flat/curve pool table that makes the white ball move in an unforeseeable way...
Rip Cord 1977 - Exidy - Misc. The funniest game of this era! You move an airplane and your mission is to launch a few paratroopers. Aftear launching a paratrooper, you control him by making parachute open and thn ttry making him land safely on the highest score platform. Easy? Not at all: just take a look at the massively-populated sky. There are lots of helicopters which make your mission much harder and dangerous. This game is very funny: you can play it in "original" or "killer" modes (making paratroopers splatting on the ground or driving them against helicopters).
Super Bug 1977 - Atari - Racing A new concept for driving games. Top view, varying path, and you even get bonus fuel/time at every 160 points! This game concept then evolved in later racing videogames like "Trash Rally". It's quite hard to operate the car at highest speed, but since there weren't many chances to make game challenging, programmers failed the aim to balance difficulty better than that.
Space Invaders 1978 - Midway - Shooting Yes it is: one of the mighty gods in arcade history. I think that all of you's know about this game. If not, please close the browser and aim your attention to collecting stamps or something else! ;-) Seroiusly, for all those people (one or two persons I think heh) who don't know this game: aliens are attacking Earth and you are the last defender pilot of the world. Enemies attack in waves and you have the destroy every single invader before they land. Each time you hit one, the others (maybe they're scared of your incredible power?), move faster. Nothing else. This is a cult arcade and you must have it!
Super Breakout 1978 - Atari - Breakout First breakout-style coin-op. Breakout is a genre, not just a videogame! Your aim is to destroy a wall (top part of the screen) by using a bouncing ball and a paddle (bottom part of the screen). This genre still exists nowadays and survives in many "sequels" ("Puzzle Bobble/Bust a move" for example). The original game featured a paddle controller: it's not easy to play the emulated game by using the keyboard, but if you like the genre and you have a paddle (lucky one...), you must try it...
Sky Raider 1978 - Atari - Shooting I mention this game because of its odd video routines. Substantially this is a shooting game: you must destroy some ground targets... but the screen scrolls in a circular way. A nice nausea effect is guaranteed...
Asteroids 1979 - Atari - Shooting Another big hit and another arcade god. You're onboard of your starship and fly in a heavily crowded space corner. You must tackle and destroy asteroids around you before they destroy your starship. This is one of the first vectorial graphics videogames. One more time, we have clue that a simple concept is the secret to make a great arcade. The inertia system could make any actions become really dangerous: it's very hard to change direction while your ship is travelling fast...
Basketball 1979 - Atari - Sport An one-on-one basket arcade. I think this was the first basketball game featuring nice graphics (a little bit static actually... but well it was 1979!). Game concept is based on the common rules of basketball. Controls had trackball and an action button. It's very hard to play the game by using a keyboard or joystick... I recommend it to basketball lovers only...
Galaxian 1979 - Namco - Shooting This videogame directly comes from the "Space Invaders" genre, which evolved incredibly during the following years. Game concept is almost the same, with the addition of alien squadrons which could attack your ship by moving away from the other part of the wave. Well not really innovative, but this was enough to make the game a "son" of the "Space Invaders" era (I can also mention "Moon Cresta"...).
Lunar Lander 1979 - Atari - Misc. Another big classic: you operate a lunar lander module and your mission is to land safely on one platforms among a few available ones. You must deal with inertia and fuel consumption. Game is little but really funny. You can still play its portings nowadays in some solitaires and desktop games collection. By the way the original coin-op is really better than all of those remakes.
Star Fire 1979 - Exidy - Shooting I chose this game for two reasons. First the game puts you in first-person view, and you move around looking from the cockpit of your starship. Second reason is that your enemies look much like Star Wars's TIE Fighters... This is one of the very first Star Wars-derived videogames for sure!

The "bronze" era (1980)

A brief introduction...
First of all, I should thank everybody. I'd have never thought an article like this would provoke so much interest... I know I forgot some milestone in the first issue so I decided to analyze one year at issue from this number onwards (eventually with more information for each game) with an average of 15-20 games per issue. Conceptually I divided Milestones in 4 great chunks. The first one (the Pioneers Era) was from 1975 to 1979; the second (the Bronze Era) covers games from 1980 to 1983; the third (the Iron Era) goes from 1983 to 1986 and the last one (the Golden Era) goes from 1987 to 1989.
I think that there could be another age in arcade history, and I'll name it as the Decadence Era: it's about when playing arcades became a merely "insert coin to continue" fact. I think I could treat this era in a special issue with a selection of all best games from 1990 until nowadays. At this moment let's taste year 1980 and its historical pieces.
1980 was the year of the turn. Games begun being more complex (and coloured) than the previous decade - sometimes having a mission and not only time-limited. In 1980 a few very famous videogaming sagas were born. Let's start this journey in the 1980...

- 1980 (the "bronze" era) -

Game begun to appear more complex. The concept of time-limited games quickly declined and new concepts (some of which will become sacred icon for arcades) are introduced. But the true one news was Cinematronics and Atari arcades, based on a beloved technology: vectorial graphics. That was an attempt to switch from the well-known raster graphics to another concept of graphic design: vectorial sprites were literally painted by electrons inside of monitors, rather than scanned line by line. Unfortunately high costs and fragility of vectorial monitors decreed the end of the vectorial games and the beginning of the myth.

Armor Attack 1980 - Cinematronics - Shooting - Vector I'm unsure, but I remember this one as being the first vectorial game mentioned in Milestones... Game concept is "shoot all that's moving around". You are aboard of a jeep (well, I guess it's a jeep), moving around in a cityscape scenario. Tank and helicopters are your enemies. Game action is quick and really funny, even though enemy weapons are sometimes unvisible and you'll die without even noticing it. I suggest to emulate the game with artworks for this game or you won't see the path to move your car!
Battle Zone 1980 - Atari - Shooting - Vector This is probably one of the best examples of vectorial graphics games. Surely it was the first to apply the 3D landscape concept in a game. The accuracy and the realty effect were also noticed by the US Department of Defence (!!!). You are on your tank and the mission is (as always) destroy everything. The radar concept and the chance to move everywhere in the field, make this a real milestone game - just think about all the actual landscapes games! Well Battle Zone has more than twenty years and is still playable as it was in the past. A real must for every retro-arcader.
Crazy Climber 1980 - Nichibutsu - Misc. - Raster Probably one of the most original concepts for arcade. You are a sort of "spiderman" and your mission is to climb buildings. Obviously there are many obstacles on the way to the top. However the curious feature is not the game concept but the ugly control panel composed by two 8-way joysticks which you have to operate simultaneously to move your hero. This means that emulation is quite hard - but I think it's worth a try.
Centipede 1980 - Atari - Shooting - Raster Another big classic from Atari. This game was essentially an extension to the Space Invader concept. You control a little spaceship at the bottom of the screen and your mission is to destroy centipedes coming down from the top. The little modification to the Space Invader concept is that centipedes split each time you hit them. There are also many mushrooms on screen, making action more complex. Why it being a milestone? Well you see, I can still remember the changing of mushrooms color between a level and the other, as if it was yesterday. A big classic: no one should ever miss it.
Defender 1980 - Williams - Shooting - Raster I guess Defender could be annoverated as one of the most difficult horizontal shooter arcade. There were five action buttons and the joystick: this was unusual and actually impressive for an arcade built in the 1980. Your mission is to defend people from aliens attack, and you must do it in the wide game field (you can view map in the radar at the top of the screen). Multi-direction scrolling (different from other shooters like Vanguard), incredible multi-coloured graphics, speed and good sounds, an unbelievable playbility make Defender a real milestone. You cannot tell about being a retro-arcade player if you didn't play Defender once.
Missile Command 1980 - Atari - Shooting - Raster Another classical survived until our days. Is not diffiuclt to find little releases of this game for various OS or devices. You are the last defender of six cities, the menace is a nuclear missile war. You have three bases armed with anti-nuclear weapons and your mission is to intercept bombs before they hit cities. You have a limited number of missiles and enemy weapons sometimes split in several missiles so it could be difficult to shoot down them. This game was included in a few arcade classic collections, and it can be considered a good and funny game. However, repeated action makes it a little boring after some time...
Moon Cresta 1980 - Nichibutsu - Shooting - Raster Moon Cresta is probably the most used arcade hardware in the history so far: it's not rare finding other games based on this hardware. Core of the game board was the glorious Z80 processor. This game represented a real innovation in the shoot'em up genre. I guess it was the first to introduce the progressive armament. You start the game with a big spacecraft divided into three parts (called I, II and III), one only of which can be used at a time. During the game you have the chance to rebuild the whole starship. After that you can count on a greater fire power. But it's difficult when you start to loose pieces of the starship... and you will surely start to loose them!
Pac-Man 1980 - Namco (then Midway) - Maze - Raster Here's the most famous arcade in history. I guess this title is really known by everybody - mothers included (well, my mother knows it so I think this name is really popular...). There are a lot of hoaxes around the concept of this game. It took around one year and half to produce the game (a long time if you consider that gameplay never varies between levels...). You are... well... you are Pac-Man, and you mission is to clear mazes ful with little whiteish pills. You are chased by ghosts, which you can hunt for a few seconds by eating a power-pill. Nothing more. Each level has got a bonus that could be a fruit or another object and there are 256 levels total, after which... the game crashes (ehm... limited hardware you know...). Puck-man, whose name was changed to Pac-Man to avoid easy allusions to offensive contents, is the first arcade character and was exported outside of the videogaming world to become object for gadget. This game is reported to be the most sold too. I have no other words to describe it: I guess this is the essence of arcades, a game like Pac-Man must be played at least once in the life of every arcader.
Rally-X 1980 - Namco/Midway - Maze - Raster Nice and little maze game. You drive a car and the goal is to collect all the yellow flags in the maze. You are chased by other cars that you can obstacle by releasing smoke clouds behing your way. This was one of the first concepts ported to other systems (I remember Radar Rat-Race on VIC-20, for example), with other names. There are no other aims except to pick up the flags in a maze. At every three levels the logic changes a little but the goal remains the same. It's worth a try anyway.
Red Baron 1980 - Atari - Shooting - Vector This was the first flight simulator in the arcade history. Really fun but also really hard to control. I guess the original arcade was provided with a better control stick for operating the biplane. As the name suggests, you play the role of the legendary Red Baron in the First World War. Your mission is to destroy as many enemies as you can. Game is quick and it's hard to control the airplane, because there are no indicators - neither height nor position. However, if you'll be able to practice, Red Baron is a good flight simulation, especially if you consider the year of the release!
Soccer 1980 - Atari - Sport - Raster Not that exiciting... but probably the first soccer with accurate graphics. The original arcade featured trackball to control action, so the emulated version is a little harder to control. You play a 4 vs. 4 soccer match in a little playground, and the control switches between football players. It is possible to play up to four players. Recommended to soccer lovers only...
Space Chaser 1980 - Taito - Maze - Raster Another concept around the maze genre. You must collect all the dots in the field without colliding against a wandering missile. You can speed up your ship until you have fuel, and switch between courses where holes are. This game was also developed in many variations, sign it was a good concept.
Space Panic 1980 - Universal - Platform - Raster This is reported as the first platform game ever, a genre that has collected glory and success in the years to come. Gameplay is simple: you move in a screen full of platforms, each of which is connected to the others by ladders. Your mission is to kill all aliens in the stage. In order to do this you have to dig holes in the platforms to capture aliens. This concept, as you can notice, will then be reprised by another big arcade: Lode Runner. I found this game very hard (uhm... balancing difficulty level was probably just an optional in 1980... or I just lost my skills?), but enjoyable.
Star Castle 1980 - Cinematronics - Shooting - Vector Another genre was born. According to MAME.DK and KLOV, this could be one of the first arcades to use Artificial Intelligence. You mission is to destroy the Star Castle, that's protected by three rotating rings. To destroy it, you must open a passage to the target. Easy? Maybe... The Star Castle auto-defends and reproduces the rings when needed. You must be skilled and quick if you want to win. Another curiosity from KLOV: the points counter doesn't reset at 1.000.000, as many other arcades do, but if you want to see that, you must play four hours in a row...

The "bronze" era (1981)

A brief introduction...
Hi, nice to see you again... OK I know,there's a monitor screen between you and I, but it's nice to see you again because if you are on the other side of the web site, it means you're a retroarcader and you're reading Zzap!Raine. Well I'm not crazy, but I have a tons of things to do (working mainly) and I ran the risk to discontinue this Milestones issue for a long time. Despite the success of the arcade phenomenon, the year 1981 doesn't especially shine with regards to videogame productions. However, a few really glorious titles were released. So, let's start our little journey back in 1981. Enjoy!

- 1981 (the "bronze" era) -

Star wars was the main theme in 1981, so we notice a wide production of shoot'em up videogames. There's also been the evolution of the Puck Man concept with lots of maze-based games. But within the huge variety of starship battles and labyrinth experiences, two new games were designed to become milestones in Arcade History...

Donkey Kong 1981 - Nintendo - Platform - Raster What can I say about this game? Nothing I guess... One of the most famous titles of videogames history. Nintendo's most famous hero, Mario, first appears in this videogame. The concept was actually developed by Falcon but Nintendo took the game mode once more. Our hero has to save his kidnapped girlfriend by a gorilla and has to cross many filled platforms with falling barrels. The game has then become one of Nintendo's masterpieces and was then cloned hundreds times with various names. It's still one of the most famous videogames: most of retroplayers all around the world recollect of it because of its features, gameplay and lasting playability. A real milestone.
Frogger 1981 - Konami - Misc. - Raster A great videogame from Konami. The concept is really simple: you move a frog and try to let it cross a road and then a river... Simple? Not at all! Having a good time synch and, above all, reflex coupons are necessary. The game has become a big classic in his simplicity, because of it being ported on platforms such various as computers and handhelds, and still holds the comparison with the time with a renewed version in 3D format. A classical one in every point of view - extremely entertaining.
Gorf 1981 - Midway - Shooting - Raster This is a peculiar kind of shoot' em up. I remember it in a special way, because it's been the first game I've ever played on Commodore VIC-20... Its arcade version was foreseeing a multi-stage structure, the first being a kind of "Space invaders", the following four (with some recall to Galaga?) being a battle facing the enemy mothership. A few nice display effects (the core of the mother ship, for example) besides a good playability deserve to be mentioned.
Jump Bug 1981 - Rock Ola - Misc. - Raster Nice concept, this one. You drive a jumping car and your target is to collect as many dollars bags as you can. Every sack has its own value and it's obviously better to recover the most valuable ones. The game hasn't been certainly become famous because its graphics or loud, but its concept has been taken again later in few videogames which exploited the idea. Quite funny.
Kick 1981 - Midway - Misc. - Raster Another odd concept... Your target is to bang lots of balloons dropping from the top of the screen (the sky). The hard part of the game is in that you operate a clown on a monocycle, and his movements are rather slow. If it was not such frustrating, this would have been one of the best titles of 1981. However, the game is fun once you get practised.
Lady Bug 1981 - Universal - Maze - Raster A son of Puck Man... well a daughter actually! You operate a trapped ladybug in a maze and try to collect all the scattered dots around. There are obviously lots of other insects trying to make your bug their dinner, so you'd better always think what you're about to do. There's a little enhancement since Puck Man: some walls can rotate, changing the maze's paths. Another classic feature are all those bonuses: score multipliers, characters, specials, etc. Quite fun, give it a try...
Mahjong 1981 - Taito - Misc. - Raster Uhm... This is probably the first "mahjong" game on Earth. Game is really odd and you'd better search the web for instructions in case you have no idea about game rules! It's basically a sort of domino game and your target is to build series of card kinds. Don't ask me more because I hate mahjong and I never learnt how to play it... You know... you can be an arcade lover as I but it's almost impossible you love every kind of games. ;-) I say it's a milestone because it's the father of an enormous number of mahjong-style games released in late 90's, so this is the begin of everything. Anyway, if you're a real mahjong fan, don't miss this one!
New Rally-X 1981 - Namco - Maze - Raster This was one of my favourite games. You drive a car in maze and you must collect all the flags on the screen in order to complete stages. There's a little radar helping you understandwhere the flags are. There are opponent cars too, making living all but easy. When you're in trouble and are chased by enemies cars, you can release smoke to confuse them for a while. This game has a nice concept, which was then reprised in lots of games. Try it.
Omega Race 1981 - Midway - Shooting - Vector Another great vectorial game, a sort of opponent to Atari's Asteroids. Game concept is quite similar: you operate a starship in a battle against enemy ships. Your ship moves in a strange way: after accelerating, it's subject to intertial force so it becomes quite hard to maneuver it. Also, enemies sometimes go crazy and begin to randomly move around the screen. I think this game has a really hooking vectorial graphics (one of the most beautiful chapters in arcade history). It was the only vector game made by Midway, and has a really high gameplay. I'm sure that once you try it you can't stop playing.
Qix 1981 - Taito - Misc. - Raster This game has a really original concept. But there's also something coming from maze games. You move a little... er... a little... I don't know, I guess it's a ship... but it has a square shape so, let's say you move a "square" within a screen, leaving a trace behind it. Your mission is to enclose portions of the screen with the trace, and fill at least the 75% of the screen. Enemies chase your square by moving on the trace you created. This game gave birth to a big vein in arcade history, especially in the late 80's and early 90's. There's a little issue you have to know: you cannot beat the computer... and there's no price for winners! Try it.
Robby Roto 1981 - Midway - Maze - Raster Another great concept: you move a miner trying to rescue his pals from the underground, being hunted by spiders. Each time you find a companion, you have to take him outside avoiding the spider's paths. This game is really fun and gameplay is terrific. I believe everyone should have this game in their own collection.
Turbo 1981 - Sega - Race - Raster Sega's long career starts here... It will then lead the software house to masterpieces like Out Run. This game represents a new way to drive a car inside of a colourful scenario. Well, I know... the car's movement is quite unreal, but those scrolling red stripes reproducing the road will then become a common feature of all driving games of the following decade. You race against time, trying to pass as many cars as possible. Scenarios change repeatedly and there are also perspective changes due to hills and turns. A great racing arcade.

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